Description
Daniel-Etienne Defaix, Chablis 1er Cru “Côte de Lechet”
While the overwhelming majority of Chablis producers have long since cast their 2018 Premier Crus into the market, Daniel-Etienne Defaix just started rolling out his 2006s. If 14 years of maturation sounds extreme to you, you’re right—it’s pure insanity. Only a few souls in the world are gutsy and/or talented enough to endure Defaix’s preposterously long “watchdog” regimen, and yet every Chardonnay-consuming soul wants to taste the results. We’re among his top advocates: A couple of months back, we launched the ‘06 release party with Defaix’s “Vaillon” and now we’re turning up the dial—but not the price—with today’s “Côte de Lechet,” what many believe to be his most complex and profound Premier Cru bottling.
Considering all the factors (prime 1er Cru terroir, absurd aging regimen, unrivaled value), a mature bottle of Defaix is among the shrewdest Burgundy buys out there. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face: I simply cannot name another white Burgundy that checks all these boxes for $60. If you have yet to experience Defaix’s miraculous ability to coolly preserve a wine’s youthful energy, texture, and profundity for well over a decade, you’re long overdue—treat yourself!
In an era when Burgundian whites are so often (a) overpriced and (b) engineered for quick release and young drinking, Defaix remains one of the last defenders of long, slow aging in the cellar and genuine value in the bottle. I can’t quite say how the estate stays in business after deferring profits for 14+ years, and then charging such modest prices for such exceptional wines—but I’m not arguing, either. My own experience cellaring Premier Cru Chablis has shown that most drink best between 10-20 years of bottle age. This is typically the point when oxygen has broken the wine down to the perfect balance between refreshing minerality and advanced aromatic complexity. This waiting game, however, can be dangerous, as one never knows if the wine has expired until the bottle is open. Fortunately, Daniel-Etienne Defaix is a master of anticipating each vintage’s eccentricities in this regard. Over the past few years, I’ve enjoyed a variety of Defaix whites from the late-1990s to the present, and almost always, spectacularly, they’ve possessed a beautiful synthesis of youth and maturity.
Defaix’s family has been producing wine in and around this region since the 1500s. Defaix works almost exclusively with Chardonnay and his ample collection of Premier Cru vineyards are farmed entirely by hand and fertilized with natural compost and manure. The majority of his 45-year-old 1er Cru “Côte de Lechet” holdings lie in the steep, southeast facing lieu-dit of “Clos de Moines, but the most exciting and unique aspect of this property is what happens in the cellar.
Benefitting exclusively from the property’s native airborne yeast culture, Defaix’s wines ferment slowly and naturally—usually a month for alcoholic fermentation, and typically much longer for natural malolactic fermentation. It’s an unusually patient, hands-off process, but the excitement doesn’t end there: Defaix aged today’s wine for three years in stainless steel before finding its way into bottle sometime in 2010. From there, it began a dark, undisturbed 10-year evolution in the family’s bone-chilling underground cellar. When all is said and done, one can generally expect to wait between 12-15 years for the release of Defaix’s top Premier Crus.
If you’re still sitting on a bottle of Defaix’s 2006 “Vaillon” that we offered a couple of months back, lucky you. Today’s the perfect opportunity to compare the nuances of Burgundy’s innumerable terroirs. This is the same vintage, same producer, same 1er Cru quality—just a different hillside vineyard about a mile north of Vaillon. I hesitate to say today’s Lechet is richer/broader than Vaillon, but I find it hard to disagree with the notion that it’s the most complex of his Premier Crus. There’s more mellowness here, but within that supple frame lies great intricacies. You’ll uncover finely crushed white stone, oyster shell, hazelnut, white mushroom, stirred lees, buttered toast, acacia honey, damp white flowers—and plenty of integrated fruits like pineapple core, yellow apple peel, white peach, citrus rind, salt-preserved lemon, and yellow pear. Minerals, myriad savory notes, and a pulsing note of mouthwatering acidity linger well after the fruit has faded on the finish, making this bottle stretch longer than your typical 1er Cru Chablis. The point being, this an incredible bang for your buck. Enjoy now and over the next 5-7 years. Cheers!
